1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method of showing commercials or other forms of information on a television monitor without interrupting the main program being shown. More particularly, the invention relates to recording a video broadcast stream, and during playback of the recorded broadcast showing commercials on the monitor concurrently with the main program.
2. Background of the Invention
Since its inception network television has been free to viewers. Instead of viewers paying for the broadcasts, advertising provides much of the networks' revenue. To a large extent, the price the advertisers pay to have the networks air commercials is determined by the expected number of people that will likely watch the commercial. Thus, to increase advertising revenue and exposure to the advertised product, networks and advertisers strongly desire for as many viewers as possible to watch the commercials. As is well known, commercials interrupt the main program being broadcast and do so fairly frequently. A significant portion of the viewing audience, however, would rather view the main program without interruptions. Thus, a tension exists between the networks and advertisers who want viewers to watch the commercials and the viewers who would rather the main programming not be interrupted with commercials. A solution to this problem is highly desirable.